A month and a half after firing its CEO over poor financial performance, flash-storage maker Violin Memory has named Kevin DeNuccio as president and chief executive officer.
DeNuccio previously served as CEO of Wild West Capital LLC, an angel investing, management, and technology consulting firm he co-founded in 2012. But he's run tech companies, too including Metaswitch Networks and Redback Networks. Redback was acquired by Ericsson for $2.1 billion in 2006.
“Kevin DeNuccio has an outstanding track record within the technology industry of achieving profitable growth and creating significant value,” said Violin Memory chairman Howard A. Bain in a press release.
The company has taken a beating since it went public in September, with an initial offering set at $9 per share. While the company raised $162 million from its IPO, the stock price fell to $7 on its opening day.
The stock continued to fall through December on poor financial results, including a major earnings miss in November. After that, the company fired CEO Don Basile, and other executives left too, including CTO Jonathan Goldrick, and COO Dixon Doll Jr.
Shares fell as low as $2.56 in December and were trading at $3.78 at market close on Monday.
In comparison, Violin Memory's competitor, Nimble Storage had a great IPO in December, with the initial $21 price popping as high as $35 on opening day, and traded above $39 at market close on Monday.